CASSEROLE-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH TARRAGON

SOURCE: JULIA CHILD, SIMONE BECK, AND LOUISETTE BERTHOLLE. MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, VOLUME I.

When the press asked Meryl Streep her favorite recipes while promoting her 2009 film, Julie and Julia, the actress consistently mentioned Julia Child’s Roast Chicken with Tarragon as her pick because the dish is foolproof and well-loved, is practically economical and satisfying, and separates ordinary roast chickens from a nice roast chicken. To be fair to the screen legend who confessed her lack of culinary glamor, Julia’s Roast Chicken does have an air of superiority thanks to the rustic yet cutting-edge French technique of casserole-roasting. In contrast to an open roasting pan, a covered casserole traps the roasting chicken into steaming under its own herbaceous and buttery drippings and spreads the smothering heat evenly within its enclosure. Is there anything else worthy of gratification if the reward from casserole-roasting is a beautiful chicken that is meritoriously juicy, tender, and flavorful?

Ingredients

Roast Chicken

1 roasting chicken, preferably with the neck skin on, weighing 3-3.5-pounds/1.4-1.6-kilograms

3/4 teaspoon/4 grams salt

Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

6 tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter

6-8 springs tarragon, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1 tablespoon/15 mL olive oil or vegetable oil

1/2 cup/75 grams sliced onions

1/4 cup/40 grams sliced carrots

Brown Tarragon Sauce

2 cups/500 mL brown chicken stock

1 tablespoon/7 grams cornstarch or arrowroot

2 tablespoons/30 mL Port OR Madeira wine

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons minced tarragon

1 tablespoon/14 grams unsalted butter, softened

10-12 fresh tarragon leaves for garnish

Specific Equipment

Paring knife

Trussing needle and kitchen twine

Paper towels

Sauté pan

Heavy-duty fireproof tightly covered casserole, preferably a cocotte

Saucepan for the brown chicken stock

Bulb baster

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C.

2. Remove the excess fat found inside the chicken cavity. Disjoint the wishbone attached to the chicken breast with a paring knife by making deep incisions into the breast and cutting off the protruding knobs off each elbow of the wing, while ensuring that the neck skin does not tear off from the breast skin. Fold the wings akimbo.

3. Season the cavity of the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon/1 gram salt, white pepper, and 1 tablespoon/14 grams unsalted butter. Insert 3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon into the cavity.

4. Truss the chicken twice with a trussing needle and a kitchen twine by tying the drumsticks and the tip of the breastbone to the tail end and by fastening the akimbo wings and neck skin to the other breast end. Draw the two twine strings tightly to securely hold the whole chicken together.

5. Pat the chicken with paper towels to dry thoroughly. Rub the chicken skin with 1 tablespoon/14 grams unsalted butter.

6. Set the oil and 2 tablespoons/28 grams butter in a sauté pan over moderately high heat. Lay the chicken with its breast sides down once the molten butter starts to lose its foam, and brown lightly for 2-3 minutes while regulating the heat. Turn the chicken over its side, and continue browning for another 2-3 minutes, making sure that the chicken skin does not break. Flip the chicken again and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Turn over once again to brown the backbone. Set aside once the entire chicken is golden brown.

7. Spoon out the burnt fat, and add 2 tablespoons/28 grams unsalted butter. Drop the sliced onions and carrots into the pan, and cook slowly for 5 minutes until soft. Season the vegetables with 1/4 teaspoon/1 grams salt, and add the 3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon, and cook gently for 1 minute. Transfer all contents to the casserole.

8. Place the chicken with its breast sides up over the vegetables and the tarragon sprigs. Season lightly with 1/4 teaspoon/2 grams salt, and pour the exuded juices into the casserole. Set the casserole over moderately low heat for 5-7 minutes. Baste the chicken once or twice. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the chicken before covering with a casserole lid. When the chicken makes a sizzling sound in the butter, transfer the casserole into the middle rack of the oven.

9. Roast the chicken for 70-80 minutes, and baste the chicken once or twice with the butter and juices in the casserole. The chicken is fully cooked when the drumsticks can move in their sockets and the running juices are clear yellow from gentle pricking. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter to rest its juices, and remove the twines.

10. When the chicken is on its final 10 minutes of roasting, blend the cornstarch or arrowroot with the Port or Madeira wine to make a smooth paste, and simmer the brown chicken stock in a saucepan. Once the chicken has started resting its juices, take out 1/2 cup/120 mL brown chicken stock and pour into the casserole to scrape out the coagulated drippings. Skim out most of the fat, leaving around a tablespoon of it in the casserole. Add the cornstarch or arrowroot paste and stir until the paste dissolves.

11. Return the chicken stock into the saucepan, and boil under medium-high heat until the sauce lightly thickens. Remove from heat, and correct the seasoning by lightly adjusting the salt. Strain into a sauceboat, and stir in the minced tarragon and the softened butter. Pour a spoonful of the Brown Tarragon Sauce over the roast chicken.

12. While the chicken is roasting, blanch the fresh tarragon leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse the leaves in cold water to stop the cooking before drying completely on paper towels. Decorate the roast chicken with these tarragon leaves.